The present invention generally relates to techniques for manufacturing hard disk drives. More particularly, the invention provides a method and system for repairing a magnetic head slider for a head gimbal assembly using an ultrasonic source. Other sources may also be used.
A hard disk drive (HDD) for data storage adapts a magnetoresistive thin film element (MR Head) to perform data read/write operations. The MR Head is bonded onto a flexure gimbal and then connected to a flex circuit using solder or gold ball bonding for data transmission. A suspension provides a platform for this architecture forming a Head Gimbal Assembly, HGA, as shown in FIG. 4.
During the manufacture of an HGA, if it is determined that the electrical property of the magnetic head slider is unacceptable, it is desirable to remove the magnetic head slider and salvage the suspension to minimize material loss. As the areal density of a hard disk drive increases, the magnetic head slider is also reduced in its size from nano- (50%), to pico- (30%), and to femto- (20%) scale dimensions, the detaching process of magnetic head slider becomes an increasingly difficult challenge. In a prior art technique, mechanical cutting using a cutter blade was suggested if gold ball bonding was used. For solder ball bonding, the detachment may employ the use of heat to melt the solder and removal by vacuum suction. As the size of the magnetic head slider gets smaller and the gimbal stiffness continues to decrease, there is a need for less contact and less intrusive techniques to detach a magnetic head slider.
From the above, it is seen that an improved technique for manufacturing a hard disk drive is highly desirable.